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Submission + - Rosetta probe reveals Martian cloud systems

Submitted by

MattSparkes

on Monday February 26, 2007 @09:47AM

MattSparkes writes: "The ESA's Rosetta probe swooped around Mars on Sunday, completing a key manoeuvre in its 10-year mission to land on a distant comet. The 3-tonne probe came within 155 miles of the planet's surface, and took some incredible images that reveal cloud systems on the planet. "At this time of the Martian year, a large fraction of Mars' atmosphere is evaporating from the southern polar cap and will migrate to the northern polar cap during nothern winter. Over most of the Martian disk one can see large cloud systems.""

Bacteria To Protect Against Quakes 81

Posted by kdawson on Monday February 26, 2007 @09:30AM from the shake-them-cilia dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "If you live near the sea, chances are high that your home is built over sandy soil. And if an earthquake strikes, deep and sandy soils can turn to liquid with disastrous consequences for the buildings built above them. Now, US researchers have found a way to use bacteria to steady buildings against earthquakes by turning these sandy soils into rocks. 'Starting from a sand pile, you turn it back into sandstone,' the chief researcher explained. It is already possible to inject chemicals into the ground to reinforce it, but this technique can have toxic effects on soil and water. In contrast, the use of common bacteria to 'cement' sands has no harmful effects on the environment. So far this method is limited to labs and the researchers are working on scaling their technique. Here are more references and a picture showing how unstable ground can aggravate the consequences of an earthquake."

Submission + - The grave of Jesus (and his son) found

Submitted by

Firmafest

on Monday February 26, 2007 @07:25AM

Firmafest writes: "Movie producer and director James Cameron is expected to hold a press conference Monday morning to announce that he has found the grave of Jesus Christ, as well as Judah, the son of Jesus. According to a blog on Time-blog.com the man who brought you 'The Titanic' is back with another blockbuster. This time, the ship he's sinking is Christianity. The findings will be documented in a 90 minutes documentary to be shown on Discovery channel. The tomb was found 20 years ago, but hasn't been confirmed until now — or did they just wait for the right time before going public?"

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